New Delhi, Oct 31: The BJP on Saturday accused the INDIA bloc of making a “mockery” of Parliament and democracy after the opposition alliance held a symbolic “public impeachment” of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, and said that the Congress will not succeed no matter how much it tries to “launch” its leader Rahul Gandhi.
“Go ahead and hold your mock parliament or take out your marches; the world has already understood that Rahul Gandhi simply lacks the fuel. This ‘satellite’ is never going to launch,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said in a swipe at the Congress, adding that the opposition can have Gandhi as a “mock Prime Minister for life”.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, he accused the Congress of spreading lies about alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission.
The BJP leader termed the Congress allegations of ‘vote chori’ a “lie” and alleged that “it was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who became PM by ‘vote chori’. He stole Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s vote and became PM.”
The opposition INDIA bloc was “making a mockery of democracy by holding a mock parliament today”, Patra said.
“And I have a humble request: please, do not dismantle this mock parliament you have created. Just seat Rahul Gandhi on the treasury benches. Leave the T-shirt, have him wear a ‘kurta-pyjama’ and let him sit there while you chant ‘Prime Minister, Prime Minister’ like a ‘bhajan-kirtan’ every single day. Keep him as your ‘mock Prime Minister’ for life; we have absolutely no objection,” Patra added, in a dig at the opposition.
Describing the opposition’s mock parliament as a “drama”, Patra rejected the opposition’s charge of changes in Form 6, which is filled by citizens to enrol as voters, and accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of lying on the issue.
“Only a declaration has been added with Form 6,” the BJP MP added.
The ruling party’s attack on the Congress and its allies came as the opposition bloc held the symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in a mock Parliament session at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence here ahead of its Sunday rally on the issue.
“No one’s vote has been stolen. There should not be any confusion in anyone’s mind,” he said.
“The SIR exercise is not yet complete. Those who were absent are being added. Those six crore voters, who have shifted (from their previous address), will also be added once they complete the process.”
Patra said the “remaining individuals” are in the process of rejoining the voter list by filling up Form 6.
“Only ‘ghuspaithiyas’ (infiltrators) are neither filling up the form nor responding to the notice deliberately,” he said, alleging that a large number of such people had been made Indian citizens based on forged documents when Mamata Banerjee was the chief minister of West Bengal.
Patra also took exception to senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s participation in the opposition’s mock parliament, saying she should “introspect” if it was appropriate for her to chair its proceedings as the “speaker”.
Earlier, the BJP said the World Bank’s latest report noting a sharp decline in India’s poverty rate has “mocked” the opposition INDIA bloc’s “mock parliament” and asked the Congress how long it will remain trapped in “illusions” and keep “adorning its political funeral” just to satisfy Rahul Gandhi.
The World Bank report has noted that India’s extreme poverty rate dropped sharply to 2.6 per cent in 2023 from 27.1 per cent in 2011, with an estimated 496 million (49.60 crore) people lifted out of poverty.
Citing the report, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi attacked the opposition bloc, saying, “The World Bank’s hard statistics have in a way mocked their mock parliament.”
While the BJP and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are working under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership to eradicate poverty, the Congress under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership is spreading the “flames of anarchy”, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said.
Trivedi also took on Gandhi for his “Indian economy is dead” remark in the past, saying the World Bank’s report shows that it is not the Indian economy, but the opposition’s “conscience” that has died.
“Their faculty of rational thinking has completely died so far as India’s interests are concerned. They always think against India. So I want to tell the Congress and Rahul Gandhi that you should ponder very seriously over what is reality and what is fiction,” he said.
“How long will you remain trapped in illusions and keep adorning your political funeral just to satisfy the ambitions and soothe the heart of your wayward prince?” the BJP leader said.
Trivedi said under Narendra Modi’s leadership, the BJP-NDA government is committed to raising the standard of living of every person in India and is making significant progress in this direction. “We have achieved a big success in eliminating poverty, which has been acknowledged by the World Bank’s report.” (PTI)
